All posts tagged: Olaf

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote

Published by Sam

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will undergo a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday, December 16. Michael Kappeler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday lost a confidence vote in the country’s Bundestag, clearing the path for an early election in February. Scholz was expected — and hoping — to lose the vote, which he had called for himself in November in order to trigger earlier-than-planned elections, which were originally scheduled for the fall of 2025. It marks only the sixth time in Germany’s history that such a vote has taken place, and the fourth time a president has fallen foul of the vote. Scholz said Monday that he had called the vote not only for parliament but the whole of the electorate. “Do we dare be a strong country, to invest powerfully in our future,” Scholz told lawmakers prior to the vote, according to a Google translation. Scholz sacked former Finance Minister Christian Lindner in November, effectively bringing an end to Germany’s ruling coalition which had been in power …

Olaf Scholz condemns attacks on politicians after third assault in a week | Germany

Olaf Scholz condemns attacks on politicians after third assault in a week | Germany

Published by skeptic

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has strongly condemned a rash of attacks on politicians after a senator and former mayor of Berlin was struck over the head in a public library in the third assault on an elected official in less than a week. Franziska Giffey, a member of Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) was slightly injured and briefly hospitalised after a man hit her from behind with a bag containing an unidentified hard object on Tuesday. Police have arrested a 74-year-old male suspect. “The attacks on Franziska Giffey and other politicians are outrageous and cowardly,” Scholz said on Wednesday. “Violence does not belong in a democratic debate. Decent and reasonable people are clearly standing against it – and they are the majority.” The German government condemned a “growing number of despicable attacks”, adding that a “climate of intimidation, of violence” could not be accepted. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said perpetrators must be brought to justice. “We must protect from attacks all who stand up for our democratic society, no matter …

Germans grill Olaf Scholz over soaring cost of doner kebabs | Germany

Germans grill Olaf Scholz over soaring cost of doner kebabs | Germany

Published by skeptic

The soaring cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy programme to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable as politicians report it is frequently cited as a concern in doorstep conversations with voters. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has become so used to being asked about the price of kebabs during public appearances that his government has even posted on social media to explain that price rises are in part due to rising wage and energy costs. “It’s quite striking that everywhere I go, mainly from young people, I’m asked whether there shouldn’t be a price brake for the doner,” Scholz has said. The far-left Die Linke party has become the latest to seize on the topic, calling, in a proposal it wants to present to parliament, for the introduction of a Dönerpreisbremse or doner kebab price cap, similar to that introduced in some parts of the country to control high rents. It says kebabs are already €10 (£8.60) in some cities, rising from €4 …

Germany’s Leader, Olaf Scholz, Walks a Fine Line in China

Germany’s Leader, Olaf Scholz, Walks a Fine Line in China

Published by Sam

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany tried to strike a delicate balance on a trip to China this week, promoting business ties with his country’s biggest trading partner while raising concerns over its surge of exports to Europe and its support for Russia. Mr. Scholz met with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday, the culmination of a three-day visit with a delegation of German officials and business leaders. He also met with Premier Li Qiang as the two countries navigate relations strained by Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s rivalry with the United States, Germany’s most important ally. Throughout his trip, Mr. Scholz promoted the interests of German companies that are finding it increasingly hard to compete in China. And he conveyed growing concern in the European Union that the region’s market is becoming a dumping ground for Chinese goods produced at a loss. But Mr. Scholz chose a conciliatory tone over a combative one in his opening remarks before sitting down with Mr. Xi on Tuesday morning, …

Send missiles to Ukraine or stand accused of appeasing Russia? Olaf Scholz must choose | Paul Taylor

Send missiles to Ukraine or stand accused of appeasing Russia? Olaf Scholz must choose | Paul Taylor

Published by skeptic

A Social Democratic German chancellor lagging in the opinion polls vows adamantly not to join a war. Support for his SPD party rallies and he narrowly clings to power. By refusing to supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine despite an outcry among western allies, Olaf Scholz may be hoping that history will repeat itself and he can replicate Gerhard Schröder’s 2002 stunt before the US-led invasion of Iraq when he refused to provide troops or money. With Scholz’s popularity at a record low, the economy likely in recession and his three-party coalition lurching from one crisis to the next, the chancellor appears to be trying to rally voters behind his rejection of calls from Kyiv, Paris and London to deliver the potentially game-changing weapons to the embattled Ukrainians. The SPD has proclaimed itself the “peace party” ever since the original Friedenskanzler (peace chancellor), Willy Brandt, knelt at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial in 1970 to atone for the Holocaust and Nazi Germany’s rape of Poland. It was Brandt who launched Ostpolitik – the pursuit …

Olaf Scholz facing fresh crisis as German economy in freefall | World | News

Olaf Scholz facing fresh crisis as German economy in freefall | World | News

Published by skeptic

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz doesn’t have much to celebrate this Easter as five of his country’s biggest economic institutes have warned an “ailing” Germany is suffering an ecomomic slow-down. The collective warning was made citing “low domestic demand, and high gas and electricity prices hitting exports”, according to Euronews. A six-monthly analysis of the German economy, which is still the third largest in the world and biggest in the EU, was released this week and made grim reading for Mr Scholz. A buoyant growth forecast for 2024 of 1.3 percent has been slashed down to barely above zero, at 0.1 percent. The report said: “The economy in Germany is ailing. “An economic weakness that lasted until the end is accompanied by dwindling growth forces. Economic and structural factors overlap in the sluggish overall economic development. “Although a recovery is likely to begin in the spring, the overall momentum will not be too great.” The dire prediction pins much of the lack of growth on soaring energy prices which have deeply affected the manufacturing economy of …

Macron or Rocky? French president is latest politician to put on boxing gloves – POLITICO

Macron or Rocky? French president is latest politician to put on boxing gloves – POLITICO

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Don’t mess with Emmanuel Macron, or he’ll punch you in the face! The French president has been working out in the gym, with muscles flexed and teeth gritted as he hits a punching bag (no, not Olaf Scholz). Moody black-and-white photos of Macron the boxer were put out on Instagram by his official photographer, Soazig de La Moissonnière. Maybe Macron thinks the only way to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine is by taking on Vladimir Putin in the ring. Putin, of course, is a big fan of judo and rose to the rank of black belt (although if you were a Russian judo judge, you’d probably be quite kind with your grading of the president) but had his martial arts titles removed by the International Judo Federation after his full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.  Such a fight could happen. In 2021, two feuding Brazilian politicians settled their differences with an ultimate fighting-style punch-up.  But Macron isn’t the only politician who fancies his chances in the ring. Far from it. Here are some boxing politicians, some of …

Germany’s Olaf Scholz makes ‘historic change’ to ‘welcoming immigration policy’ in U-turn | World | News

Germany’s Olaf Scholz makes ‘historic change’ to ‘welcoming immigration policy’ in U-turn | World | News

Published by skeptic

Olaf Scholz has presided over a “historic” shift to Germany’s immigration policy as his far-right anti-migration opponents rise through the polls. The German Chancellor has rowed back on policies introduced by his predecessor, Angela Merkel, deemed generally “welcoming” to migrants. During her 16 years as German premier, she laid the groundwork for Germany to accept Europe’s highest proportion of asylum seekers, with more than three million refugees currently resident in the country. Some of her “welcoming measures” are being rowed back by the current administration as the asylum system comes under increased strain, with the nearly 37,000 applications received in 2023 making up 32 percent of the EU’s as a whole. Mr Scholz has reacted to the issue by tightening national immigration measures as the SDP’s far-right opponents pile on pressure from the sidelines, with his party losing ground in the polls. Alternative for Germany (AfD), a highly controversial party known for its extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric and largely unpopular among Germans, accused the government of failing to tackle a roughly 50 percent increase in new …

Germany’s far-right AfD makes key political gains as Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition wobbles

Germany’s far-right AfD makes key political gains as Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition wobbles

Published by skeptic

Opinion polls and local election results currently make unhappy reading for Germany’s government. In fact, the consistently strong performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Europe’s largest member state (and arguably the member state with the best reasons to ward off a far-right challenge) is worrying for everyone. The anti-immigration, climate sceptic AfD recently celebrated two significant local election wins and has been polling ahead of the government in national voter intention polls. This happened despite the fact that the German courts have the whole party being monitored by the secret service on grounds of suspected extremism. AfD representatives have been tangled up with arguments about memorialising the Holocaust on plenty of occasions and one former AfD lawmaker is currently in custody on suspicion of taking part in a violent attempted coup. Germany’s three-party government, made up of the SPD (social democrats, the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz), Greens and the FDP (a centre-right liberal party) is undoubtedly unpopular. The most recent Deutschlandtrend poll (which is based on fieldwork completed at the start …

‘A green transition that leaves no one behind’: world leaders release open letter | Emmanuel Macron, Mia Mottley, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, Olaf Scholz, Fumio Kishida, William Ruto, Macky Sall, Cyril Ramaphosa, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden

Published by Sam

We are urgently working to deliver more for people and the planet. Multiple, overlapping shocks have strained countries’ ability to address hunger, poverty, and inequality, build resilience and invest in their futures. Debt vulnerabilities in low- and middle-income countries present a major hurdle to their economic recovery, and to their ability to make critical long-term investments. We are urgently working to fight poverty and inequalities. An estimated 120 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty in the last three years and we are still far from achieving our United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. We should thus place people at the centre of our strategy to increase human welfare everywhere on the globe. We want a system that better addresses development needs and vulnerabilities, now heightened by climate risks, which could further weaken countries’ ability to eliminate poverty and achieve inclusive economic growth. Climate change will generate larger and more frequent disasters, and disproportionately affect the poorest, most vulnerable populations around the world. These challenges cross borders and pose existential risks to …